The Jets Situation - By Braylon Edwards

SNY GEICO SportsNite had Braylon Edward in the building with Chris Carlin to talk all things Jets and he actually made a lot of sense. If you want to view the video, then please do so by clicking HERE

I'm going to post a couple of the comments below from Braylon and give my opinion. Of course, as with anything, we'd love to hear your opinion so pop your comments below:

Chris Carlin: When you look at this situation right now, what do you see as an ex-player?

Braylon Edwards: I don't see a good situation. I see a team in shambles. I see a team that's trying to figure at their GM standpoint, their coaching situation. And that's where it starts. To get everything right on the field it has to start with the GM agreeing with the coach, getting the right players in there for the coach to be successful and I don't see that. I feel as though Idzik is holding something back and he's not providing Rex with the talent he needs to win ball games.

It's really hard to disagree with this, we have spoken at length about our belief that regardless of the long-term plan than John Idzik has, he hasn't provided Rex with the players he needs to succeed as the head football coach of the Jets this season. Rex getting the team to a 8-8 record last year was a minor miracle, and it was largely based on a weak schedule and the Jets playing above their level at points. However this year, with a tough schedule, the talent is performing how you would largely expect, leaving us at 1-4 and putting us in danger of winning less than 5 games this season.

CC: What can he do right not to maximize what he has to work with?

BA: If im Rex, I have to simplify the game plan. I got to go with Cover 2 out there as opposed to putting my DBs at risk by playing Cover 1. We know that's Rex's game. We know that's his pet peeve, always his thing is playing that Cover 1 defense, playing that match up defense. Sometimes you have to let that ego go. You got to go Cover 2 so that you can give your DBs help. And in the offense game, you got to run the ball, got to simplfy, and use shorter slant routes.

It may have been Smackdad, it may have been Scott or John, but we have addressed this issue on GGN at some point over the last few weeks. It's absolutely no secret at all that Rex loves playing cover 1, to be aggressive at the line. However this goes directly hand in hand with the last comment, Rex hasn't been given the personnel to run his favored cover 1 scheme. Only having one defender deep allows a safety to blitz from a number of positions. However the weakness is that it leaves a lot of area for the one deep safety to cover and asks a lot of the corners. You just can't do that when your corners don't have the level of talent to stay with NFL receivers.

CC: Geno Smith.. What do you see?

BA: I see a quarterback not playing good football. Simply put. Geno Smith isn't playing good football. He is playing bad football. He is making mistakes, but it is not all Geno Smith's fault. I feel like he is playing on a bad team right now, and I feel like they are putting him in bad situations so everything is compiling on him and making it seem like all the blame belongs on Gino.. which it doesn't.

I agree with this to a large part. Geno isn't playing well and there is nowhere to hide from that fact. However we also can't ignore the fact that Geno is on a very poor team right now and we're not making it easy by having a complete lack of depth at the receiver position and having the offensive line blocking air quite a lot of the time. Geno is trying to put the team on his back, as Scott referenced in his recent article. However for a second year QB who still needs a lot of development, that's really not going to work.

CC: When you look at this whole situation right now, Braylon, is it fixable?

BA: Not this year. The Jets are fixable. They have talent. I like their D-line , I like what they have a linebacker. I do see talent in there. I think there is something with the line. I think there is something there. I think you have Chris Ivory, you have players that can make plays. I still like Jeremy Kerley, I still like Jeff Cumberland. I like Decker in the number two spot. You got to go find your number one. I like Decker in the number two spot. But it is not going to be fixed with John Idzik as the GM and Rex Ryan as your head coach.

This is probably the most important quote from the interview and one I completely agree with. We can't fix it this year, we're not one player or one coach away from competing, we are a long way off right now. We need to spend money and we need to ensure harmony between the coaching staff and the general manager. The only thing I don't agree with, is the idea that Idzik and Ryan can't fix this together. If Idzik can provide the right players for Ryan and a roster full of talent, I think Ryan could coach that team to an extend where we become a championship contender. However can they agree on the players needed? that's the big question.